There are some foods which instantly transcend me back to my childhood such as pesto. Not just pesto in any form though: spaghetti smothered in cream-based pesto. When I was growing up in Nigeria, one of my favorite restaurants was Il Sorisso. I actually wonder whether it is even still open. Anyways my standing order there would be Spaghetti Al Pesto Genovese–> every forkful was heavenly. Whatever anyone says, there IS a difference between oil-based & cream-based pesto. When I experimented replicating it with avocado as a substitute for cream, ‘pleasantly surprised’ doesn’t even cut it- I was THRILLED! I bring to you…Pestocado!
Pestocado
What you’ll need
- 1/4-1/2 avocado, mashed
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Tomato
- Basil
- Salt & black pepper
- Chili flakes (optional)
1) Assemble & chop all your ingredients
2) In a heated skillet, add the garlic
3) Once the garlic starts to golden, add in the onions
4) As the onion starts to turn pink, mix in the tomatoes and basil
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
5) Sauté the above for a minute or so and then close the fire.
6) In a separate mixing bowl, combine the above with the mashed avocado. Add salt, black pepper, and chilil flakes and mix.
*This would be a great chicken/tofu topper. I am loving it in as a sauce for zucchini ‘spaghetti’ made from my new toy.
Spaghetti al 'Pestocado' with calimari and prawns seasoned with fajita powder.
What food remains nostalgic for you?
Its still open the restaurant!
A trip to Lagos soon may be necessary in that case 🙂
Ok, this might be the first recipe I’ve ever actually bookmarked and that I ACTUALLY intend to make 🙂 this sounds absolutely delicious- especially being a fan of creamy pestos! I’m so making this next week!
My favourite nostalgia foods: Pasta with bechamel sauce (or any white sauce), when I lived in Dubai the restaurant at our Beach Club even created a special pasta with white sauce just for me!
Ohh that sounds great! Which Beach Club is it?? I go to Dubai fairly regularly so would love to add a new place to the list…although my list of restaurants to try in Dubai seems to be ever-growing!
YUM- avocado anything gets my vote!
Interesting. I didn’t even know there was cream based pesto and I loveeeee avocado.
Ohh cream-based pesto takes pesto to a whole new level!
oh Yummmm that looks delicious (and easy enough)
Yumm this looks great, and like Sara said… it’s one of the few recipes that I truly intend to make 😀
Wooo you must!
mmmmmm Avocado 🙂
[…] I would have made Khushboo’s tantalizing looking Pesto-cado; but I had mistakenly thought I needed a blender prior to re-checking the recipe. Next […]